Israel’s treatment of Ethiopians ‘racist’ Jonathan Cook, The National, January 06. 2010 NAZARETH, Israel // Health officials in Israel are subjecting many female Ethiopian immigrants to a controversial long-term birth control drug in what Israeli women’s groups allege is a racist policy to reduce the number of black babies. The contraceptive, known as Depo Provera, which is given by injection every three months, is considered by many doctors as a birth control method of last resort because of problems treating its side effects. However, according to a report published last week, use of the contraceptive by Israeli doctors has risen threefold over the past few years. Figures show that 57 per cent of Depo Provera users in Israel are Ethiopian, even though the community accounts for less than two per cent of the total population. About 90,000 Ethiopians have been brought to Israel under the Law of Return since the 1980s, but their Jewishness has subsequently been questioned by some rabbis and is doubted by many ordinary Israelis. Ethiopians are reported to face widespread discrimination in jobs, housing and education and it recently emerged that their blood donations were routinely discarded. “This is about reducing the number of births in a community that is black and mostly poor,” said Hedva Eyal, the author of the report by Woman to Woman, a feminist organisation based in Haifa, in northern Israel. “The unspoken policy is that only children who are white and Ashkenazi are wanted in Israel,” she said, referring to the term for European Jews who founded Israel and continue to dominate its institutions. Women’s groups were alerted to the widespread use of Depo Provera in the Ethiopian community in 2008 when Rachel Mangoli, who runs a day care centre for 120 Ethiopian children in Bnei Braq, a suburb of Tel Aviv, observed that she had received only one new child in the previous three years. “I started to think about how strange the situation was after I had to send back donated baby clothes because there was no one in the community to give them to,” she said. She approached a local health clinic serving the 55 Ethiopian families in Bnei Braq and was told by the clinic manager that they had been instructed to administer Depo Provera injections to the women of child-bearing age, though he refused to say who had issued the order. Ms Mangoli, who interviewed the women, said: “They had not been told about alternative forms of contraception or about the side effects or given medical follow-ups.” The women complained of a wide range of side effects associated with the drug, including headaches, abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea, loss of libido and general burning sensations. Depo Provera is also known to decrease bone density, especially among dark-skinned women, which can lead to osteoporosis in later life. Doctors are concerned that it is difficult or impossible to help women who experience severe side effects because the drug is in their system for months after it is injected. The contraceptive’s reputation has also been tarnished by its association with South Africa, where the apartheid government had used it, often coercively, to limit the fertility of black women. Traditionally, its main uses have been for women who are regarded as incapable of controlling their own reproduction or monitor other forms of birth control, and for women who suffer severe problems during menstruation. Ms Eyal said she had been denied co-operation from government ministries, doctors and most of the health insurance companies while conducting her research. Clalit, the largest health company, however, did provide figures showing that 57 per cent of its Depo Provera users were Ethiopian compared with a handful of women in other ethnic groups. The health ministry was unavailable for comment. When first questioned about Depo Provera in June 2008, the health minister of the time, Yaacov Ben Yezri, said the high number of Ethiopians in Israel using the drug reflected a “cultural preference” for injections among Ethiopians. In fact, according to figures of the World Health Organisation, three-quarters of women in Ethiopia using birth control take the oral pill. “The answers we received from officials demonstrated overt racism,” Ms Eyal said. “They suggested that Ethiopian women should be treated not as individuals but as a collective group whose reproduction needs controlling.” When Woman to Woman conducted an experiment by sending five non-Ethiopian women to doctors to ask for Depo Provera, all were told that it was prescribed only in highly unusual cases. Ms Mangoli said it was extremely difficult to get immigrant Ethiopian families to speak out because they were afraid that their Jewishness was under suspicion and that they might be deported if they caused trouble. However, women interviewed anonymously for the report stated that officials at absorption centres in Ethiopia advised them to take Depo Provera because there would be no funds to support their children if they got pregnant in Israel. This policy appears to conflict with the stated goals of the country’s Demography Council, a group of experts charged with devising ways to persuade Jewish women to have more babies. The council was established in response to what is widely seen in Israel as a “demographic war” with Palestinians, or the need to maintain a Jewish majority in the region despite high Palestinian birth rates. In a speech marking the council’s reconvening in 2002, the then social welfare minister, Shlomo Benizri, referred to “the beauty of the Jewish family that is blessed with many children”. Yali Hashash, a researcher at Haifa University, said attempts to restrict Ethiopian women’s fertility echoed practices used against Jewish women who immigrated to Israel from such Arab countries as Iraq, Yemen and Morocco in the state’s early years, in the 1950s and 1960s. Many, she said, had been encouraged to fit IUDs when the device was still experimental because Israel’s leading gynecologists regarded Arab Jews as “primitive” and incapable of acting “responsibly”. Allegations of official racism towards Ethiopians gained prominence in 2006 when it was admitted that for many years all their blood donations had been discarded for fear that they might be contaminated with diseases. There have also been regular reports of Ethiopian children being denied places in schools or being forced to attend separate classes. In November a survey of employers in the main professions showed that 53 per cent preferred not to hire an Ethiopian. Ruth Sinai, an Israeli social affairs reporter for Haaretz newspaper, wrote recently that the discrimination faced by the country’s 120,000 Ethiopians reflected in particular “doubts on the part of the country’s religious establishment about their Jewishness”. ............................................................................ PS: While Israel was the only country openly cooperating with the Apartheid regime in South Africa (even the US did so more discretly), native Arab-Israelis taxpayers are still legally segregated in many ways and in much the same fashion (eg, overlooked in terms of services provision, higher education restrictions etc)...

Edited, it was not adressed to you in particular sxb, just a matter of timing... GD, are you making fun of an Islamic prescribtion and claiming that a Muslim's choice supercedes his obligations? Could you define "Muslim" or Islam literally?

First, having some excellent points is best complemented by a comparable delivery if I may advise the brother with good intentions who started this topic. Just to point out to one ever missed yet crucial consideration, the precautionary principle is paramount when it comes to serious matters, let alone one's faith (and the prophet notoriously stated: abondon what makes you doubt in favor of what does not). Here, if covering one's face is judged to be obligatory for women by major scholars, then no amount of self-justification takes away from the self-evident, namely that, indeed, covering the face is the safest option (additional points such as the importance of the face in a woman's appeal comparing to the rest to the rest of the body etc are made by scholars). Otherwise, we would soon find ourself in a situation far removed from the sunnah with everyone presenting controversial "scholarly difference of opinions" or weaker narrations etc to cater for his whims (and we already have similar justifications when it comes to musical instruments or more relaxed stances towards usury, thanks to some favoring their own discretion over clear islamic evidences). Lastly, self-justification and disputing with little knowledge is most dangerous; thus, one may still be Muslim while comitting all major sins but step outside the deen for allowing himself a clear interdiction. On a side note, the new Al Azhar Head's description, if accurate, speaks for itself and we know how the Egyptian secular establishment is complexed vis-a-vis the West. Also, invading Napoleon secured a Fatwa before Sarkozy came to seek support himself for his hijab ban at that illustrious institution, so our focus should be the truth, neither humans nor institutions... ................................IslamQA.................................. Niqaab is that with which a woman veils her face (tantaqib)… The difference between hijaab and niqaab is that the hijaab is that which covers all the body, whilst niqaab is that which covers a woman’s face only. The woman’s dress as prescribed in sharee’ah (“Islamic dress”) is that which covers her head, face and all of her body. But the niqaab or burqa’ – which shows the eyes of the woman – has become widespread among women, and some of them do not wear it properly. Some scholars have forbidden wearing it on the grounds that it is not Islamic in origin, and because it is used improperly and people treat it as something insignificant, demonstrating negligent attitudes towards it and using new forms of niqaab which are not prescribed in Islam, widening the opening for the eyes so that the cheeks, nose and part of the forehead are also visible. Therefore, if the woman’s niqaab or burqa’ does not show anything but the eyes, and the opening is only as big as the left eye, as was narrated from some of the salaf, then that is permissible, otherwise she should wear something which covers her face entirely. Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The hijaab prescribed in sharee’ah means that a woman should cover everything that it is haraam for her to show, i.e., she should cover that which it is obligatory for her to cover, first and foremost of which is the face, because it is the focus of temptation and desire. A woman is obliged to cover her face in front of anyone who is not her mahram (blood relative to whom marriage is forbidden). From this we learn that the face is the most essential thing to be covered. There is evidence from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the views of the Sahaabah and the imams and scholars of Islam, which indicates that women are obliged to cover all of their bodies in front of those who are not their mahrams. Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 1/ 391, 392) Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) said: The correct view as indicated by the evidence is that the woman’s face is ‘awrah which must be covered. It is the most tempting part of her body, because what people look at most is the face, so the face is the greatest ‘awrah of a woman. This is in addition to the shar’i evidence which states that it is obligatory to cover the face. For example, Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms)…” [al-Noor 24:31] Drawing the veil all over the juyoob implies covering the face. When Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) was asked about the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies” [al-Ahzaab 33:59] – he covered his face, leaving only one eye showing. This indicates that what was meant by the aayah was covering the face. This was the interpretation of Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) of this aayah, as narrated from him by ‘Ubaydah al-Salmaani when he asked him about it. In the Sunnah there are many ahaadeeth, such as: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The woman in ihraam is forbidden to veil her face (wear niqaab) or to wear the burqa’.” This indicates that when women were not in ihraam, women used to cover their faces. This does not mean that if a woman takes off her niqaab or burqa’ in the state of ihraam that she should leave her face uncovered in the presence of non-mahram men. Rather she is obliged to cover it with something other than the niqaab or burqa’, on the evidence of the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: “We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in ihraam, and when men passed by us, we would lower the khimaar on our heads over our faces, and when they moved on we would lift it again.” Women in ihraam and otherwise are obliged to cover their faces in front of non-mahram men, because the face is the center of beauty and it is the place that men look at… and Allaah knows best. Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 1/396, 397 He also said: It is OK to cover the face with the niqaab or burqa’ which has two openings for the eyes only, because this was known at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and because of necessity. If nothing but the eyes show, this is fine, especially if this is customarily worn by women in her society. Fataawa al-Mar’ah al-Muslimah, 1/399 And Allaah knows best. Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid ............................................................................. PS: I am deliberately not dwelling on Tantawi for I am not qualified for that and that is hardly crucial for the issue of the Niqab.

Amin, a brilliant and patriotic mind way ahead of his contemporaries indeed. On a side note and since we are related via close relatives (including a famous figure praised in his prose), I just discovered some incongruities in his/our biography thanks to websites hardly checking what they copy...

To begin with, a relaxation of "happy hours" or licensure for alcohol premises, the development of tabacco plantations, "tourism" & banking (euphemisms for licentiousness and plutocracy in many ways) etc will boost the GDP (though that will not provide much succor to victims of stress, pollution and obesity related diseases or alcohol fuelled traffic accidents). Indeed, all sorts of ethically questionable and unsustainable activities, which contributes negatively in the overall picture (Public Health, famillial & social cohesion, global environment & stability etc), represent a very significant part of the economic activity of many countries (no wonder the "service" component, including the "restauration" and "entertainment" industries, is inflated in the case of countries such as Austria). Even in purely statistical terms, GDP figures are both not readily measurable and misleading in many ways, eg, not accounting for nomadic milk production depress significantly Somalia figures whereas the informal sector or the most crucial activities, ie, volunteering or parents attending to their household duties are not included despite studies confirming that children reared by their housewife mothers are more adjusted, which translates into all sorts of social & security costs to the wider society being prevented. Here, all the essential parts are missing and, to take just one example, World leading Abu-Dhabi sovereign wealth fund alone, approximating a trillion of US$, would trump the rest comparing to the typical, ageing and debt-based Western economy of Austria's, whereas the UAE one is growing at a double-digit rate despite the recession while a young population means less soaring health & care costs and much more potential (Emiratis represent only 16% of the official population, the rest is basically employed expatriates, a situation which means GDP comparisons in this case are even more of an exercise in futility). All that to underline that superficial knowledge, including the focus on narrow, simplistic, as well as unreliable economic frameworks to analyse the world, and much worse, to arrive to similar conclusions reflects an immature intellect and ethical intelligence typical of Western brainwashing (who tend likewise to discount their historical and relentless role in the very problems they associate with Islam)...

Amin, al muhim khayr ayaa lugu ogaa; reminds me of all these relatives scattered and living alone for dunya purposes... Ailamos: I'm sorry for your loss walaal... Allah ha u naxariisto iwm for Muslims, followers of other beliefs would say may god forgive him etc...

Castro, adeer was just making an effort and replying to your question, calm down.

The Black Community did not face an essentially intellectual/religious onslaught with a colonial component but a struggle for freedom not that dissimilar to that of the "tiers etat" in ancient Europe or the corporate oppression faced by non-Wasps & millionaires in the contemporary US, though all sorts of entertainments, junk food and mirages provide a more human facade. This is epitomised through misleading TV ads by the very pharmaceutical firms that lobby for the continuation of an extraordinarily wasteful yet spiralling and immoral healthcare system, which is the best reflection of a given society level of "civilisation". In fact, both medicines ads and access to healthcare mainly based on one's ability to pay for it are repulsive to even the rest of the West and constitute one of the few consensual ethical taboos. In an even more cynical way, the state of the education system with its more capitalist philosophy and narrow, vocational focus seems ideally suited to preserve this model of a society of extremes, whereas in France, for instance, a large majority of the population is bound to receive a minimum of general knowledge, and this even before entering higher education. Sadly, this corporate slavery and savagery ravage the rest of the World too through arbitrary limits on drugs access for the poorest countries through "patents rights" etc, monopolies over natural resources offering below market prices, deregulations and strangulation of the delivery of essentials services such as health & education etc (the famous IMF "Structural Adjustments Programs" etc). Yet, systematic discipline stemming from a more coherent spiritual framework may well reverse the tide over the long run, as the traditional Western churches have been compromised through many centuries of condoning the most unhuman or unjust abuses by the powerful elites (of which the genocidal and utterly horrific slaves shipping conditions is but an episode)... ........................... Interesting, Related Read (by a respected medical journal).......................... The Lancet US region to model health service on Iranian system Original Text Nellie Bristol Health workers in the Mississippi Delta are taking inspiration from an unexpected source in their bid to improve the health of the region's disadvantaged population. Nellie Bristol reports. Health advocates for the poverty-stricken Mississippi Delta in southern USA have spent millions of dollars over the years attempting to address seemingly intractable health issues disproportionately affecting the region's African-American population. Now a group is turning to an unlikely source for a model of primary care provision: the health house programme of rural Iran. Established in the early 1980s, the model uses community health workers to track villagers' health, and provide basic care and health education. Trusted workers chosen from the community help patients connect with appropriate high-level services when needed. The programme has bolstered the health status of Iran's rural population and garnered high praise internationally. Continuous monitoring and support, and a community-based link to the fragmented US health-care system is just what the Delta needs as well, say health house advocates. The present system has failed the rural region for decades. Saddled with a long history of discrimination and unemployment, more than 20% of the population is uninsured, and rates of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and infant mortality are among the highest in the country. Many residents have no access to regular care and turn to the hospital emergency room when they need attention. Aaron Shirley is a long-time champion of health care for the Delta and chair of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, supporting a facility that attends to Mississippi's underserved population. He is leader of the health houses initiative. Critical to its success, he said, is community involvement in both designing the programme and implementing it. “You've got to know the Mississippi Delta. There's a distrust factor. But this [programme] is from the ground up”, says Shirley. “You'd be surprised at the response that we're getting starting with the people and saying ‘here's an idea, what do you think about it’ rather than going in and saying ‘here's what we're going to do’”, he added. “They've had a lot of that.” Delta health houses, like those in Iran, will employ members of the community to serve as health workers. They will bridge the divide between public health and clinical medicine, tracking individual household's health status and serving as advocates to improve living conditions including water quality and access to healthy food. They will help patients to negotiate the complex medical system, and follow physician instructions. The group initially will train workers with at least a high school education using the equivalent of nursing assistant certification, but hopes to develop an expanded curriculum with increased focus on community issues and even disaster preparedness. Shirley and others are seeking US$30 million to begin supporting up to 15 health houses in the Delta region. With tight budgets in Washington, and reticence to adopt a model from a country in extreme disfavour in the USA, funding is an uphill battle. But the group is moving ahead with a pilot project in a donated building in Greenwood, MS. In addition to serving as a headquarters for the health workers, James Miller, another advocate for the project and managing director of Oxford International Development Group in Oxford, MS, says the building will be a meeting place for healthy activities, and will house exercise equipment and blood pressure monitors. With health reform faltering in Congress, provision of community-based primary care for underserved populations will be paramount in the USA, both to improve access and cut costs. The use of community health workers like those in the Delta project, long a staple in global health programmes, is becoming more widely recognised and supported in the USA. According to Carl Rush, a community health expert based in San Antonio, TX, more states, insurers, hospitals, and the federal government are realising the value of the workers. They enhance disease prevention, ensure adequate prenatal care to prevent low birthweights, and encourage patient follow-up to reduce hospital readmissions. Advocates hope turning to Iran as an unlikely ally in the promotion of rural primary health will finally start to meet the needs of the Delta population. “This is a human disaster that's been hitting here for decades”, says Miller.

Khayr walaal, mahadsanid; indeed, "Wa kafa bil mowti waciidaa" or death is sufficient in itself as an admonition.

Having been notified of this muxaadaro by our brilliant Sh Mustafe Xaaji Ismaaciil (in Xamar 2002), I wanted to share it as it recapitulates essential points we are usually headless of: PS: Part 1, particularly, is a must.

It seems he prayed Maghrib with his friend and then uttered the Shahaada thrice right before driving. Sensing a dangerous traffic, my cousin asked then his friend to, likewise, testify the shahada. Without any visible injury, he died, while the friend was left unscathed. Discretly saving for islamic purposes, he was even advising his mother on a more appropriate Du'a as they talked over the phone around the same time as the incident etc. That is briefly the set of clues around that curious observation though "glowing" may seems a bit too strong...

Amin. I have just been notified that the Abu Dhabi medics summoned back my abti due to some light they have never seen before emanating from my deceased inabti; they asked about his lifestyle and practices as this was a phenomenon previously unseen in their career. I shall try and investigate, share other thoughts as well...

Aamiin, intaas in leeg ideelkiin Allah ha idinku maneesto. Thanks again; more clarifications appeared on the circumstances and it seems he had uttered the shahaada before dying, which is good sign... will deal later ia with facebook.

Just receiving hooyo email that my cousin died this night in a most tragic car accident in Dubai. On his way home from the Post where he was sending a packet to another relative, he was victim of a car crash; these circumstances make the tragedy even more shocking. Young and with great opportunities, family, looks etc, I am thinking about how to delete his Facebook page to prevent further pain, as other relatives are flying to Dubai (he just left them in Djibouti after staying there for a while). Please, let's remember him in our Du'as during/after Salat...

^Norf, I guess we naturally give the benefit of doubt to our esteemed admin given how delicate all this juggling is; however I made some careful observations for enhancement. Above all, It seems that undisguised islamophobia is less visible on the radar than other offences (instead of the exact opposite) while the most uncivilised regulars are overlooked as long as they apply the thinest cosmetic veener to their clan sectarism. Indeed, worthy Somalis or non-somalis who may join us here on Sol would be shocked by the overdose of primitive statements (regardless of whether some view it as a form of banter or not). When all is said, we all understand how difficult is to deal with established connections on one hand or the need to project a balanced image on the other (even though many could care less about any side as fashioned on typical Somali basis); yet, rules should be ruthlessly and coherently applied for the supreme interest...

missionislam.org If only one website should be focused on, this one is quite exhaustive; a veritable must for everyone containing both classics and many timely articles.

Timely, concise yet comprehensive clarification by a competent Fiqhi (culminating with concrete and more general advises for all of us): Fitna Of Takfiris & Their Evil Ideologies by Sheikh Muhammad Khaleefah (translated by brother Abdulrahman)

Fundamentally, one's actions depend on one's vision of life; it's up to the wider family to foster a spirit of religious comittment and, above all, teach the younger ones their Islamic Aqeedah (thus the importance of famillial and local Da'wah in all its forms). Basically, learning and teaching Tawhid and its implications as a Muslim takes precedence over anything else; then, it becomes so much easier to resist all these common addictions, peer and commercial pressures or unislamic lifestyles in general (and yes that include TVs etc). That is why the prophet and Ulamas insisted on Tawhid even before discussing, let alone banning, all these destructive habits since nothing is built without solid foundations. I usually try and offer excellent works of references such as "Guide to Sound Creed (A Book on Muslim Creed and Faith)" by Sh Dr Saalih Al-Fawzaan, alongside more tailored ones in particular cases (DVDs on Islamic Homes by eloquent Somali preachers such as Sh Mustapha Xaaji Ismaaciil). Of course, it needs persistence and cleverly incorporating Da'wah into your own lifestyle as a paramount duty; there is indeed little more refreshing than a recently well guided cousin convincing another sibling...

Castro, my highlighting of a possible controversy around suicide bombing against non-muslims (that very takfiir may be "generously" spread around by some) was just to emphasise that things are not that simple and clear-cut since its proponents may reply from an Islamic point of view as I've been told. However, and clearly, the evidence seems much higher on the other side and most prominent scholars forbide it (I have always been cautious against that practice from what I know and was, obviously, not justifying suicide attacks). The point, more generally, was that such issues, specially when involving Islamic Fiqh, are not as straightforward as the average Soler may think but rather necessitate broad as well as in depth knowledge; thanks to al-akh Xiin, we already have on other threads more scholarly evidence about the more fundamental issue of takfiir as well (who is non-muslim)...

Well, it is a safe, welcoming, Muslim & Somali country with largely unspoiled beaches and scenery all over the place yet having many opportunities linked to the now booming economy (thanks to Arab Capital); high cost of food and energy are now dealt with through buying land overseas, alternative sources etc and the government is trying to gear education towards a more vocational direction...

I do concur with the fact that Djibs are generally more or less acculturated (though things are slowly changing nowadays) and the small country can not do much directly but many small steps are helpful too. During the socialist era, W-Galbeed traders were using it to contourn local controls and limitations, many local traders are also contributing now to the recovery in "Somaliland", even more Somalis came there later before migrating abroad or were in refugee camps etc. Look at it this way, whenever I go to Hargeysa and around it, much over there have been built by Djib traders, whether it be mosques, farms or houses, or by people who stayed in Djibouti with more established relatives; even Djib public organisations contributed their skills to the recovery whenever the political climate allowed it etc etc...

Originally posted by ElPunto: They told him his kids were foreigners and they shouldn't dream of getting a passport and to make haste in departing the country. Ironically enough the president of Djibouti at the time was also not born in the country but in Ethiopia. And in yet a further irony that is where both parents were born - I should say - what was called the Reserve Area at the time. They came to Mog in the 50s and 60s and welcomed as Somalis and given passports in time. Somalia for all its faults strived for a larger sense of Somalinimo at times. Of course, the natives (Afars and Somali Issas nomads whose place of birth is irrelevant) have preferential naturalisation treatment and some of my relatives struggled too; however, citizenship laws have been recently altered and one can now be Djib through the mother's side (one of the problems was also that forged marriage certificates are straigthforward to get in the region). Hooyo told me around 3 years that they have been successful in even passing a parliamentary bill allowing orphans to get automatically naturalised (they were really struggling after leaving orphanages due to lack of documents). My grand-parents were born in W-Galbeed, maybe some of their parents in the Reserved Area/Hawd (which should make us "Ethiopians" too); however, they settled earlier in what was at that time a French colony. Most Djibs are not sectarian and other Somalis/Arabs/etc even have officers/ministers/MPS/etc (one being from Puntland or Oga-denia in clan terms) or are directly working with/advising Guelleh. We could condemn the corruption and nespotism (which is practised by and affect all groups), but both locals and admin are doing their best in terms of "Somalinimo" (citizen groups were welcoming refugees despite little means)...

^So we are compatriots; technically even few Italians and Frenchs let alone all sorts of Arabs (who literally built the city) or Ethiopians are Djibs, some loving it more than other Somalis...

^ What has been overlooked but is the root cause of all that, black lax have such an ego and think of themselves as way more lerned or smarter than they are. Apart from studying original Islamic works, they could have tried and learned about authentic world history in more depth as well as other objective intellectual works (sciences, geography, health etc) though that may have prerequirements and a different mindset than their usual entertainment (music & girls, video-games & films, trips and low-level Western litterature). There is no coincidence in the fact that those with those complexes have such levels of general knowledge or intellectual focus and may have literally being over-awed when transported from a refugee camp to a metropolis in some cases...

Totally agree, the problem is not so much about taking all that is available but the ingenuity in justifying clearly unethical or at best doubtful dealings (basics such as Arbaciin or 40 Hadiths of An-Nawawi are ignored). Of course, the system, whether out of guilt or other considerations, make those dealings much more appealing than honest work. Around 20 years ago, when hooyo was bringing a cousin here, that lady at the French consulate told her it would be easy for us to get naturalised, revealing a largely ignored process. Nobody was that interested at that time and even the in vogue immigration to the US/Canada was condemned, especially by aabo's side (though Djibouti was much worse economically in the mid-90s). Back in 2001, hooyo remembered that and started the process when me and my bro came to France to study. Now, of course, it's all about regaining "our dues" and even those with wealthy parents or a generous djib bursary get their French ones too. My cousin who just came told me how he was studying in Quebec as French and thus paying even less than someone from Toronto, even though his main studies town was just outside Ottawa. Of course, it's considered almost insane to question the ethics of keeping a paid for, large flat and other subventions when living abroad; likewise, when I fail to do the same and "forget" few facts in my declarations... PS: I'll try IA to post this recent and excellent muxaadaro a Kuweiti Sheikh delivered locally about Muslims in the West, when available in Somali...